Is Healing for Today or Not

The gift of healing is one of the nine gifts of the Spirit, spoken of in the Bible, (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).  I can only speak from personal experience and what I have seen regarding the validity of a controversial question, “Is supernatural healing for today or the early church only?”

I believe that the gift of healing is for today’s Believers as is each one of the other gifts.  The nine gifts are:   the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, faith, gifts of healings, working of miracles, prophecy, discerning of spirits, different kinds of tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.

God does not change.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Just because a skeptic or scoffer says that the Bible is false and just a collection of fables, does not make it so.  Who are they anyway? 

God’s Spirit breathed upon holy men of old as they penned His infallible words.  The Bible is God’s will and testament to whoever will.  Disdainers attempt to ridicule truth, but God is still on the throne and His power to sustain the accuracy in the Bible goes without saying.  

I not only have been healed by the laying on of hands, but I have also been used of God to pray for others and see the Lord miraculously meet their needs.  God has the final say in any situation.  His fondness and warmth toward us are without end because He loves us dearly.

God’s ways are perfect, and for this reason He gave us His Word as a lamp to our feet and a light to our path that we might not stumble when scorners come against the Bible.  God’s truth conquers all ridicule.  Where sin abounds the love of God and His grace does more abound.

As Christians, we must not become discouraged if healing does not come instantaneously.  God’s timing is perfect.  He hears our prayers and knows the situation.  We must continue to trust and believe God’s promises.  Miracles still happen.

If healing is a thing of the past, then Jesus, who was heartlessly beaten, without mercy, was pointless, and He suffered in vain for our healing.  But God’s plan for people in need of a Savior was accomplished when Jesus was crucified for the sins of humanity.  By His stripes we are healed.

When we pray, we ask in faith believing according to God’s will and then leave our request at the altar, while maintaining faith in God to do what He said He would do in the Bible.

(Hebrews 11:1), “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” 

(John 14:12-14) “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”  (13) “And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”  (14) “If you ask anything in My name I will do it.”

No one in their right mind can say that God is no longer healing today.  I do not believe in their deception, and neither should you.  Our Father is still the miracle working God.

The Bible tells us that the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

(James 5:16) “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

If the preceding scriptures are not accurate, then the Bible is fallible and the teachings that I have been taught from childhood are false.  God’s Word does not return void and is accurate in every way.  It is sharper than any two-edged sword.

(Hebrews 4:12) “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

Christians have the authority and privilege of praying for the needs of others, while expecting God to do that which we request in Jesus’ name.  We ask according to His will, but there are those that choose not to pray for fear that God will not hear and answer their prayer. 

Embarrassment can be very humiliating, and no one desires to be humbled in such a way as not having their prayers answered.  Not seeing immediate results, the person praying can become mortified if onlookers or the person being prayed for shrug their shoulders and say by their actions, “Is that all there is?”

We must remember that we are not the ones doing the healing, we are instruments of God that heed His call to pray when a need presents itself.  We should not worry about our reputation or our standing in church circles if God chooses to wait.

It doesn’t matter how brilliant or misinformed another person is when they exude doubt by raising their eyebrow of reservation when results to prayer is not seen.  It matters not what they think or feel if it appears to them that God is on vacation or not concerned. 

Circumstances do not diminish the fact that God is omnipotent and will do exactly what He wants to do in His time.  We do not see the beginning, nor do we see the ending of God’s purposes.  He only asks that we be willing to see the need; act upon what we see; and pray that God’s will be done.

Written by,

Papa Boyd